Volunteer for a startup providing accessible mental healthcare solutions across Africa ⭐

CogniX leverages innovative technology to provide accessible, personalized mental healthcare solutions across Africa, empowering individuals and communities to improve their well-being.

CogniX addresses the critical social challenge of limited access to mental healthcare across Africa. With a significant shortage of mental health professionals and widespread stigma surrounding mental health, millions of people in underserved communities lack the support they need. Our platform bridges this gap by providing accessible, affordable, and culturally sensitive mental health solutions. By empowering individuals and communities to prioritize mental well-being, we aim to reduce stigma, improve mental health outcomes, and foster healthier, more resilient communities across Africa. Additionally, our approach promotes environmental sustainability by reducing the need for physical infrastructure in delivering mental health services.

CogniX offers a transformative solution to Africa’s mental healthcare crisis through our comprehensive mobile platform, "Beyond Self." The app connects users with licensed mental health professionals via teletherapy, offering accessible and affordable care regardless of geographic location. Our AI-powered recommendation system matches users with the best-fit therapists based on their needs, while features like mental health tracking, community support, and educational content foster ongoing wellness. Additionally, Beyond Self includes e-pharmacy integration, crisis support, and the use of emerging technologies like VR/AR for immersive therapy experiences, ensuring a holistic and scalable approach to mental health in Africa.

Role (Volunteer, unpaid):

Role Description: We are seeking a dedicated Volunteer Voice AI Engineer to design and deploy a real-time, voice-first conversational AI system that provides empathetic mental health support across Africa. You will build the audio pipeline from listening and transcribing speech to generating intelligent, compassionate spoken responses while integrating LLMs for context-aware dialogue.

Key Responsibilities

- Design a FastAPI backend for real-time audio streaming and processing.

- Integrate Speech-to-Text (STT) engines (Whisper, Deepgram, or Vosk) for low-latency transcription.

- Implement Voice Activity Detection (VAD) for turn-taking and speech segmentation.

- Integrate Text-to-Speech (TTS) synthesis (ElevenLabs, Coqui, or Google TTS) for natural voice responses.

- Deploy and fine-tune LLMs using LoRA/PEFT via Hugging Face.

- Build RAG pipelines using LangChain and vector databases (Milvus/Chroma).

- Develop secure, containerized APIs with Docker, JWT, and rate limiting.

Required Skills

- Python (Advanced)

- FastAPI and WebSockets

- Hugging Face (transformers, peft)

- LangChain for RAG

- Audio libraries: PyAudio, librosa, or WebRTC VAD

- STT/TTS API integration

- Docker, Git, CI/CD

Key Qualities

- Passion for ethical AI in mental health and social impact.

- Strong focus on latency optimization for real-time voice.

- Self-starter who takes ownership of the full audio-to-text-to-audio pipeline.

Benefits

- Real-world impact in underserved regions.

- Hands-on experience with cutting-edge Voice AI and LLM deployment.

- Mentorship, recognition, and letters of recommendation.

- Flexible remote work.

Application Instructions

Submit:

- Resume or LinkedIn

- GitHub links (Voice AI, LLMs, or backend work)

- (Optional) Note on Voice AI and Mental Health interest

Volunteer role offering valuable experience and real-world impact.

Time Commitment: Volunteer 10+ hours per week for 3-5 months remotely 💻

If you want to make change, apply to volunteer with CogniX!